Coming to Eden Park soon. Photo:
Edinburgh's greatest show on earth, its Military Tattoo is coming to Auckland next year as part of the event's 75th anniversary.
It's not the Tattoo's first visit to Aotearoa, it came to Wellington in 2015, but it is the first visit to the country's largest city.
Creative director Alan Lane joined RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump after a busy day of interviews with New Zealand media announcing the Auckland visit - which included an official launch at Eden Park itself with a solo piper playing from the top of one of the grandstands.
Alan Lane, Edinburgh Military Tattoo Creative Director. Photo: Supplied
Lane told Crump the Auckland event would be even bigger than the usual Edinburgh show with over a thousand performers from around the world including Scotland.
There will also be plenty of local action, with an opening co-hosted by Tāmaki Makaurau Iwi, Ngāti Whātua.
Lane, who has a background in directing large scale outdoor events, says while the Edinburgh Tattoo has grown to incorporate performing arts from outside Scotland, its military origins remain important.
He says the Tattoo, which started as a part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts, was born out of the hardship endured by ordinary Scots during and immediately after the Second World War.
As well as honouring Scots culture it also recognises Scotland's military personal.
Lane says it owes its ongoing popularity not just to the worldwide Scottish diaspora, but to the positive message it promotes of community and cooperation.
The Auckland edition of the Tattoo “The Heroes who Made Us” takes place in Eden Park next February 19th and 21st.
Eden Park, bracing for a Scottish take over. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
